Stephen porter



S. PORTER.

(No Model.)

TOY GUN.

No. 466,574. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.v

fig

MTM-555.5. www

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, the butt of the gun.

STEPHEN PORTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTO THE RUBBER lTIPPEDARROV COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TOY

SPECIFICATION-forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,574, dated January5, 1892.

' Application filed April 3, 189]..I Serial No. 387.471. (No model.)

.one end fastened at the butt-end of said barrel; a catch for the saidspring whereby the free end thereof is held after it has beencompressed, said catch being an arm on the forward end of a rod orrock-shaft located in the forward part of the stock, said catchprojecting through'an orifice in the barrel at a point where it will beadapted to retain the spring in its most compressed position', an arm oroperating-lever on the rear end of said rod projecting through a slot inthe stock, and a hammer and releasing-trigger therefor, said hammerbeing adapted to fall upon the said operating arm or lever at the rearend of the said rod, thus displacing the arm or catch at the front endthereof and releasing the spring within the barrel, all of which I willnow proceed todescribe.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figurel represents a side view of a toy gun embodying my improvements.Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of a portion of the same on theline 2 2, Fig.- 4; Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3, Fig. l,looking toward the left or toward Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4E4:, Fig. 2, looking toward the right or toward the muzzle ofthe gun.Fig. 5 represents a longitudinal section of the gun, showing the springuncompressed. Fig. 6 represents a top plan view of the rod or rockshaftremoved from its bearings.

The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in allthe figures.

In the drawings, yct represents the butt of the gun, which is preferablyof wood or other light material, but may be of any suitable form.

o represents the main portion of the stock, preferably of metal andconstructed in two sections, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said sectionsreceiving between them the rear portion of the barrel c. Thek rear endof the barrel c is provided with two holes through which a screw d isadapted to pass, said screw passing through the holes in the barrelwithout engaging the same and being engaged with the two sections of thestock b, through which it also passes, said screw thus serving to bindsaid sections together at this point and to hold the barrel c in place.

e represents a helical spring which is placed in the barrel c. The rearend of the springe has a loop oreye through which the pin or screw dpasses, said pin thus serving to retain the said spring in the barrel.The convolutions of the spring e are of less diameter than the interiorof the barrel, and the spring is rel. I prefer to provide the outer orfree end of the spring e with a cap e', lwhich may be a piece of thinmetal bent or clamped over the last convolution of said spring. Theobject of this cap is to enable the spring to be compressed by a rodintroduced into the muzzle of the barrel and to prevent the end of saidrod from becoming jammed in the last convolutions of the spring, asmight occur were the rod of smaller diameter than said spring. Theprovision of the cap e', covering the end of the spring, enables a rodof any diameter that will enter the barrel to be used.

f represents a rod or rock-shaft which is journaled in the stock l).The'forward end f of said rod is bent at right angles to its length andprojects upwardly through a slot or orifice in the barrel c at apointjust in front of the point where the forward end of the spring ewill rest when fully compressed, forming a catch adapted to retain saidspring in its compressed position. Thesaid catch f of the rod isnormally held in a position in which it projects into the barrel o by aspring g, one end of which bears on the catch f and presses it upwardlyinto the barrel c, while `the other end has a bearing on one of the lugsor bearings in which the rod f is journaled. The forward side of thecatch f is beveled for a purpose which will presently be explained. Therear end f2 of the rod f is also bent at a right angle to its length andprojects out through a slot in the stock b, forming an therefore enabledto work easily in said bar- Ioo n operating arm or lever by which saidrod f may be rocked or oscillated. Outside of said stock I prefer toagain bend the arm f2 at a right angle, its extreme end being in a lineparallel with the length of the rod f, as shown in Fig. l. rlhe arm f2of the rod f is in such position that it will be operated by a hammerz.. The hammer 7L is provided with any of the well-known suitabledevices for allow ing it to be cocked and then released by the triggeryL'. When the hammer is thus released, it will fall upon the arm f2 oftherodf.

The operation of the gun is as follows: The hammer being cockechthespring e is compressed by introducing into the barrel c any suitable rodand forcing said spring as far back in the barrel as it will go. The endor catch f of the rod f will be held in its normal position projectinginto the barrel; but the beveled forward edge of said catch f permitsthe convolutions of the spring to ride over it. Vhen the springhas beenfully compressed, pressure on the rod introduced into the barrel may berelaxed, and the front end of the spring will be caught by the catch f',the spring being thus held in its compressed position.

To discharge the gun it is now only necessary to pull the trigger t'.The hammer h will fall on the rear arm f2 of the rod f, and, causing thesame to move downwardly in the slot in the stock b, through which itprojects, will cause the rodf to makca partial rotation, thus bringingits forward end or catch f out of the barrel c, leaving said barrelunobstructed and releasing the spring c. It will be observed that bothof the arms f and f2 project from the same side of the rod f, so thatwhen the arm f2 is depressed by the hammer h the catch f will also movedownwardly. It will also be obvious that the spring operating the hammerh is of greater strength than the spring g, which holds the catch f inits normal position projecting into the barrel c, the latter spring,indeed, being preferably one of very light tension.

Vhen the cap e is used on the spring e, a bullet or any equivalentmissile may be used with this gun, said cap filling up substantially theentire diameter of the barrel and forcing out whatever may be in frontof it when the spring e is released, as before described.

This gun may also be used with the form of vacuu1n-tipped arrow shown inLetters Patent of the United States No. 397,950, granted to Frank WhiteFebruary 1f), 1889, and when this is the case the cap e is notnecessary, as the end of the arrow-shank is provided with a beveledflange j, which will ride over the catch f and which the said catchengages, thus holding the arrow in the barrel and at the same timeholding the spring e in its compressed position, as shown in Fig. 2.When the catch f is moved to release the spring, as already described,the arrow will be discharged, as will be readily seen. It will beobvious that when the said arrow is used no other rod is used tocompress the spring e, the arrow itself being used for that purpose. Thehead or cap e may also be a small, block of wood, which may be affixedto the front end of the spring e.

It will be obvious that the rod or rockshaft f, instead of being bent upat its ends to form the catch f', and the operating-lever f2 may beprovided with two arms affixed to said rod in any suitableway, said armsconstituting the catchj" and operating arm or lever f2.

Although I prefer to provide my improved toy gun with a hammer adaptedto strike the operating-lever f2, as already described, it will be seenthat the hammer maybe omitted and the operating-lever f2 moved by handor otherwise to rock the rod f and move the catch f to release thespring c. f

The stock b is here shown as made in two sections 2 2, which areconnected by the screws cl d', so that they may be readily separated topermit the removal of the barrel, which is secured by the rear screw dpassing through holes in the rear end of the barrel. lVhen t-he sectionsare assembled and con nected by said screws, they clamp the barrelbetween their inner sides. Said inner sides are provided below thebarrel with inwardlyprojecting ears or lugs 55, which constitute thebearings of the rod f. The rod is adapted to turn freely in saidbearings and is preventedfrom moving endwise therein by the projectionof the arm f2 at its rear end through the slot s in the stock, the saidslot confining the arm f2, so that the rod f can rock, but cannot moveendwise.

l claiml. In a toy spring-gun, the rod or rocleshaft jonrnaled insuitable bearings, having a spring-retaining arm or catch on its forwardend and an operating arm or lever on its rear end, whereby said rod maybe rocked or oscillated in its bearings and caused to Withdraw its catchand release the spring, as set forth.

2. In a toy springgun, the rod or rock-shaft journaled in suitablebearings, having a spring-retaining arm or catch on its forward end andan operating arm or lever on its rear end, whereby said rod may berocked or os cillated in its bearings and caused to Withdraw its catchand release the spring, and a spring adapted to normally hold the saidcatch in its spring-retaining position, as set forth.

3. The improved toy gun comprising a stock, a barrel set thereon, aspring in said barrel, and a rod under the barrel, having its forwardend bent up and projecting through an oritice in the barrel, forming acatch forthe forward end of the spring when compressed, the rear end ofsaid rod being also bent and adapted to be moved tobring the forward endor catch above mentionedV out of the barrel, thusreleasing the spring,as Set forth.

IOC

IIO

4. In a toy gun, the combination, with aA stock, a barrel` set thereon,a spring in said barrel, a spring-operated hammer, and areleasing-trigger therefor, of a rod journaled in the stock below thebarrel, having its forward end bent up at substantially a right angle tothe length of the rod and projecting into the barrel through an orificetherein and forming a catch for the forward end of the spring whencompressed, the rear end of said rod being also bent substantially atright angles to the length of the rod and projecting through a slot inthe stock at a point where it will be struck by the hammer when V`thesame descends, the two projecting ends of said rod being so arrangedthat when the rear end is depressed by the hammer the front end or rcatch will be moved downwardly out of the barrel, releasing the spring,and a spring e, adapted normally to hold the said catch in position inthe barrel, as set forth.

5. In a toy gun, the combination, with the barrel, the spring therein,and a stock provided with a side slot s, of the rod or rockshaftextending lengthwise of the barrel and mounted to rock or oscillate inthe stock, said rod having at one end an arm arranged to serve as acatch or detent for the outer end of the spring when the latter iscompressed and at the other end an arm projecting through the slot s,said slot permitting the rocking motion of the rod and preventingendwise movement thereof, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 27th day of March, A. D.1891. Y

STEPHEN PORTER.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, EWING W. HAMLEN.

